Injured on the Job?

If you have a work-related accident, there are procedures that you must follow in order to be covered under workers’ compensation.

A work-related accident means any accident arising out of the performance of your employment, including an accident which might occur during a field trip or other school-approved activity or workshop.Any such accident/injury to an employee must be reported to the nurse in the school, or the supervisor in charge of the worksite, within 24 hours of the occurrence. There are two reports that must be filled out. An accident/incident report is filled out by the nurse.(Please note that the accident/incident form is filled out at the employee’s request. A nurse does not make any determination regarding the validity of the request.)  The employee, on the other hand, fills out the employee report as soon as possible &endash; preferably the same day.  All parties, including the administrator/supervisor, sign them.  If the injury is minor, the staff member may return to his/her duties after receiving first aid from the nurse.

If the injury requires further medical attention, the employee should be sent to a workers’ compensation doctor. (Right now, there seems to be three primary institutions for this exam: Barnert Hospital or the Immediacenter s in Totowa or Clifton.)  The employee is given a medical report form that must be filled out by the attending physician at the time of the examination.  This report should be filed with the payroll supervisor within seven days of the date of the accident, and is usually sent directly by the physician.

An employee may suffer an injury resulting from a school-related accident but feel, at that time, that further medical attention is not necessary.  If this injury has not corrected itself by the next school day, it is advisable to go to the nurse and ask to be sent to a physician.  DO NOT HESITATE to do so hoping that the injury will mend.  If you do not seek the necessary medical attention within a day, you may forfeit your right to workers’ compensation care.  The more time that transpires between the accident and medical attention, the harder it is to prove that an injury was the result of the accident.

The employee should be very careful that these procedures are followed in order to make sure that any possible sick time lost due to the accident/injury is kept in the workers’ compensation category and is not charged to their accumulated sick days.  If you are absent as a result of your injury, the District will most likely charge you sick days until it is determined that your injury is work-related.  When Lyndon Smith, Office of Risk Management, identifies the injury to be work- related, it is his responsibility to notify the Personnel Department (Maria Gonzalez).  She will then restore your days in the sick bank.  You can check this by reviewing your “account” at the bottom of your paycheck. You may also find it helpful to check with Mr. Smith to ensure that days originally counted as sick time have been approved as workers’ comp.

Remember that an employee cannot go to his/her own physician for workers’ compensation claims unless Lyndon Smith or the workers’ compensation insurance company has specifically approved it. This insurance is now handled through Inservco Insurance. In most cases, you must visit the workers’ comp. doctors.